Defying the Capitol
by tayler1117
Summary: When Katniss and Peeta decided to make sure that the Capitol had to take them both as Victors, Katniss' plan goes terribly wrong. Set at the end of the Hunger Games by the Cornucopia. Please R&R.
1. Defying the Capitol

Defying the Capitol, a Hunger Games Fan Fiction by tayler1117

_**Summary**_: When Katniss and Peeta decided to make sure that the Capitol had to take them both as Victors, Katniss' plan goes terribly wrong. Set at the end of the Hunger Games by the Cornucopia. Please R&R.

This is my first Hunger Games FanFic, so please bare with me here. If this gets good reviews and so forth, then I'll add more chapters to it and try to make it into something for you all, just as long as you all like it.

I apologize in advance for the length of the story.

_**Chapter One**_

I held up the berries for everyone to see – the Capitol, each and every District, and even my folds back in the Seam. I reached into the bag and took a handful for myself before holding the bag out to Peeta. He took a handful, figuring out my plan in a matter of seconds just by reading the expression on my face.

"On three?" I asked him.

"On three," he agreed, nodding his head furiously.

"One," I counted.

"Two," he continued.

"Three," we shouted in unison, popping the berries into our mouths simultaneously.

"STOP!" a booming voice rang out through the arena, scaring me so badly that I swallowed some of the berries and began choking instantly, the juices from the fruit constricting my throat on contact.

"NO!" Peeta and the voice screamed out. Peeta ran to my side, spitting out his berries while he forced his fingers into my mouth. He began tickling the back of my throat and I promptly started vomiting. I knew that his efforts were futile; I was already dying, and there was nothing that Peeta could do about it.

As soon as my stomach was empty, I looked up at Peeta and smiled.

"Take care of Prim," I whispered to him.

"I will, I promise," Peeta sobbed.

I let my body relax in Peeta's arms, but there was one last thing that I wanted to say. No, wait, _needed_ to say.

I looked past Peeta's shoulders up at the sky, knowing full-well that the cameras would be trained on my face in my last moments of life, recording every labored breath.

"I love you, Gale," I said as loudly as my rough, shaky voice would allow.

I shuddered as my heart thudded to a stop.

Again, I apologize to the fact that this is so short, but if you want more, hit that little button down there and leave me a review!


	2. Escape

Defying the Capitol, a Hunger Games Fan Fiction

**Author's Note: Since you guys generally liked this story, I've decided to add to it. Don't hate me for what I'm going to do, but someone requested it. : )**

**Oh, and, I forgot to mention something in the last chapter as well, so I'll do it twice here:  
I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY OR THE CHARACTERS. (x2)**

Chapter Two

Gale's Point of View

I stared at the wide, flat-screen television that had been erected especially for this year's Hunger Games in the middle of town, in horror. This just can't be possible. There's no way that Katniss can be dead! I began shaking my head in denial, Katniss' last words echoing loudly throughout my mind: _Gale, I love you. Gale, I love you. Gale…I LOVE YOU!_

All the while I shook my head, not noticing the sympathetic looks I was receiving from the whole town, or the fact that I was crying. I can't even remember, ever, a time that I actually, truly cried over something or someone. I guess that it just took Katniss' death to make me realize that I actually loved her, too.

Peeta's Point of View

"NO!" I heard myself scream. I clutched Katniss' body closer to me and rocked back and forth, even though I knew my actions were futile in my quest to save her.

I refused to let her go. I held her as close to me as possible and smoothed her hair back off of her forehead. I kissed her softly on the newly exposed skin, knowing that life as I saw it would forever be changed because Katniss would never be a part of it.

I didn't notice when the hovercraft appeared. Only when the ladder descended before me did I acknowledge its presence.

Keeping a stronghold on Katniss, I reached out feebly with one hand and touched the ladder. My body immediately went limp from the electric current pulsing through the metal. However, through the silence, I heard a new sound.

A heartbeat.

A faint one.

But a new one.

Prim's Point of View

I wailed into my mother's shoulder, my tears quickly soaking her blouse. I shook uncontrollably.

My sister is dead. The thought went coursing through my mind. My veins. I feel like it's my fault, somehow, because my name was the one that was drawn out of that blasted lottery.

I could see Gale just ahead of me, just staring at the TV screen, his shoulders hunched over in defeat. I stopped clutching my arms around my mother and walked toward Gale. I lightly touched his arm and he tore his gaze from the TV.

Tears glistened on Gale's face, while more fell in a steady rhythm from his eyes. The sight was shocking. I'd never seen Gale cry before.

Gale stared at me for a long time. I was starting to think he didn't recognize me, but he finally just threw his arms around me and broke down.

"Prim," Gale breathed raggedly into my ear. "Prim, Prim, Prim, Prim, Prim…"

I just let Gale hold me, knowing that Katniss would want Gale to look out for me. He seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't get the words out of his mouth. He started and stopped and started again before he finally gathered his bearings and took a deep breath.

"Prim," Gale gulped some air. "I – I loved her too. I just realized it when it was too late."

I couldn't say anything to Gale's words. I'd always suspected that Gale harbored some sort of not-so-brotherly feelings for Katniss, and I knew Katniss had felt the same way, but I also knew that neither of them knew it themselves.

If any of that makes sense.

Peeta's Point of View

"What's going on?" I yelled at the doctors, my voice rising a few octaves from a sudden spurt of panic. The doctors ignored me and began to work furiously on Katniss as soon as we were safely in the hovercraft.

"The current of electricity going from the ladder to you, from you to Katniss had enough voltage behind it that it actually restarted Katniss' heart. I didn't think that anything like this would be possible, but we've never taken one dead and one live Tribute into the hovercraft at the same time on the ladder."

Then the doctor turned around and began helping the other doctors and nurses to revive Katniss. They kept pumping a bag full of air into her about every fifteen seconds. I wanted, no, _needed_ Katniss to be able to breathe on her own. I stared at Katniss' face, taking in every detail of her perfection, committing everything about her face that I saw to memory. I'd need something to call back upon if I couldn't look at the real thing anymore back in the Seam.

"Come on, kid," a voice said from behind me, breaking my concentration. I turned to see Haymitch standing there, his brow furrowed at me, trying to figure out for himself what those doctors were doing to Katniss. "There's nothing you can do here."

He stepped forward and put his arm around my shoulders, steering me away from Katniss. We stepped through a sliding door and into a long hallway. Haymitch never let go of me until we reached another door off of the corridor, to which we promptly stepped inside.

"What were you two thinking?" Haymitch asked me in a hurried, hushed voice.

"_Katniss_ was thinking that she could get them to keep us both if we both tried to commit suicide with the berries that killed that one chick," I explained. "If you want to yell at someone, go and yell at Katniss since you're so keen."

Haymitch didn't have a retort. I spun on my heel and stormed over to a sofa and sat down heavily. I'll admit that I'm pissed at Haymitch for interrupting my memorization. I was already starting to forget what she looked like the longer I was away from her. Don't they say that if you _really_ love someone that you don't see every minute of every day that you forget what they look like, even if you saw them mere seconds before? I needed to be with Katniss. I wanted to be there when she woke up. She's everything I've ever wanted.

I love her.

Katniss' Point of View

_What's happening to me? Am I dying? I don't want it to be like this. Death from poisonous berries – what a way to die. Not how I pictured it at all._

_Wait. Why am I still thinking? I thought my heart stopped. I can't breathe! I _need_ someone to breathe for me. I'm starting to sink down, down, down…down….down….down..._

I sat bolt upright on the hard cot, gasping for breath. I was a little disoriented, the bright, white lights making me see spots all over. I blinked a few times and saw that Peeta was sitting in a chair right beside me. He seemed as taken aback as I was by the sudden alertness.

"Katniss!" Peeta sighed. "Are you alright?"

I tried to talk but no words would come out of my mouth. Oh, God. What's happening to me?

Before I could answer that myself, I slipped back under.


	3. Back to Twelve

Defying the Capitol, a Hunger Games Fan Fiction

**Author's Note: I thought I'd hit ya with another chapter in celebration of Mockingjay being released tomorrow. I'm sorry that I haven't written ANYTHING in months. I've been so busy with my senior year of high school just beginning and I was at camp…anyway, there's really no excuse for my slackerness, so ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE HUNGER GAMES. There. I said it.**

Chapter Three: Peeta's Point of View

I stared at Katniss' limp form on the cot. The way she had just sat bolt upright had taken me aback for a few seconds and before I had time to get more than a few words out of my mouth, she was unconscious again.

With no one to talk to, I had a _lot_ of time to mull things over. Like what I had presumed would be Katniss' last words. _Gale, I love you._ These words had been eating me from the inside out ever since Katniss had gone limp in my arms. Why couldn't she love _me_?Why _him_? What does that loser have that I don't?

My hands subconsciously balled up into fists in my lap, a feral growl building deep down in my throat and escaping my lips in one low note. I couldn't bring myself to admit that I was _jealous_ of that son of a bitch.

Another growl escaped my lips, louder this time, and Katniss came around again.

"Peeta," she whispered, her hand reaching out towards me shakily. "Come here."

I got up out of my chair and shuffled forward until my knees hit the side rail on the bed. She patted the mattress and my attention was brought to the IV sticking into her skin on the back of her hand.

"Peeta," she whispered again, tearing my attention away from her hand. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" I asked, confused as to what she was apologizing for. "What are you sorry for?"

"For everything," she sighed. "For what I said when I thought I was dying. I just had to say it, Peeta, I just had to! Gale had every right to know how I feel about him. Hell, he still thinks I'm dead. Oh blast!"

She smacked her head, realizing something for the first time.

"Do Prim and my mother know I'm alive?"

"I'm not sure," I said slowly. I grasped her fragile hand in my own and ,being extremely cautious of the IV, squeezed lightly. "I'm sure that Haymitch will have told them. But you've only been unconscious for about four hours, so I doubt that they do know."

"I need to find Haymitch," she said, sitting up and trying to throw off the covers so she could get up.

"_You_ need to rest," I said, pushing her shoulder so she'd lie back down. "_I'll_ go and find him."

I turned towards the door and started to make my way to it when Katniss spoke again. "You know I love you, too, Peeta."

I stopped in my tracks only for a second, a huge grin breaking across my face for the first time in weeks. I didn't turn to face Katniss again; instead, I kept on walking. Once I reached the door I said quietly, "I know. I love you, too."

"Hey, Haymitch!" I said, finally catching a glimpse of him as I passed through a sort of lounge/waiting room.

"What do you want, Peeta?" he asked, seemingly annoyed with me.

"Katniss wanted to know if you've talked to her family yet," I said, walking over to one of the couches and sitting across from him.

"Why would she ask a question like that?" Haymitch asked me, leaning back on the cushions and placing his feet on the small table before him. He reached over to another table beside him for a glass of brandy.

"Well, she has every right to ask that question," I said, every muscle in my body tensing up for some strange, unexplainable reason, like I was about to receive some very bad news.

"Well, I haven't spoken to anyone from District 12," Haymitch said quickly. "The phone lines are down or some shit like that. I'm beginning to think that Mr. Snow actually followed through with his emergency plans after all."

"What're you talking about?" I asked him, a wave of cold terror sweeping over my body.

"Snow had these plans that he would continue to destroy the Districts if they showed any signs of retaliation against the Capitol. You see, Melark, what you and Katniss did at the Cornucopia showed all of Panem just how easy it is to retaliate against the Capitol. I'm betting that all of District 12 was ready to avenge Katniss' 'death'. President Snow was ready to destroy Twelve at a moment's notice. That's why I was trying to get through to them, to let all of them that Katniss is alive and to head east because the termination of Twelve is imminent."

I sat there in silence. I couldn't even begin to fathom the aspect that District 12 might not be there when we get back. All of those people, dead. My family, Katniss' family, everyone we've ever loved, gone. I couldn't think about it anymore so I tried to make more conversation with Haymitch.

"So, where're we headed now?"

"Back to 12 to see if it's still there," he said simply, picking up a newspaper off of the low table between us. He shook out the paper and disappeared behind it, and I knew that I had to get back to Katniss. Fast.

I stood up and turned to leave, but Haymitch spoke before I could take a step. "Hey, kid, don't tell her. She needs to focus all of her energy on getting better."

I just walked away.

There was no way in _hell_ I could keep something like_ this_ from her.

**Sorry it's short. I just need to get this out so you all don't bust down my doors with pitch forks and torches. : )**

**Please review. They make my day.**


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